Antisubmarine Warfare Missions Add To U.S. Navy Helo MishapsWith the U.S. Navy developing more aviation-related equipment, systems and platforms to handle anti-submarine warfare (ASW) operations, the number of mishaps related to those missions is increasing.
The Navy’s intended ASW champions are the MH-60R (“Romeo”) Seahawk helicopters, and those aircraft are listed among the leaders for Class A mishaps involving naval aircraft, according to the Navy Safety Center website.
The Navy is quick to assert that none of the data or operations indicate any safety problems with the helicopters themselves, but appear to be related to growing pains with added ASW systems. “The 60 has a superb safety record,” Cmdr. Mike Kafka says.
The Center lists 11 total Class A mishaps for the current fiscal year thus far: five “flight” and another six “flight-related” incidents. Two of the flight Class-A mishaps involved MH-60s, one an MH-60S, or Sierra, variant that was lost in the Red Sea last month, and another Romeo that suffered a “hard landing” in December.
But three of the six flight-related Class A mishaps involved Romeos with problems concerning the helicopters, the Center website says.
An airborne low-frequency sonar “departed” or separated from an MH-60R helicopter July 27 during an ASW training flight in the Coral Sea. Another airborne low-frequency sonar transducer assembly “departed” an MH-60R Feb. 27 during another ASW training flight in Cherry Point, N.C., and a similar assembly departed an MH-60R during an inflight operational check Jan. 24 off the coast of Andros Island, Bahamas.
“The investigations are still ongoing,” Kafka says. “But no single issue appears to be the reason. It would be inaccurate to attribute any of these to the airframe.”
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